It was a gradual process – I studied ­piano and chamber music, did some ­conducting at university, then went to ­Germany as a repetiteur [opera rehearsal conductor] and, later, opera conductor.

What was your big breakthrough?

Being asked to step in at the last minute to conduct Lohengrin at the Teatro Comunale in Florence. The ­conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli had pulled out, and all the more famous conductors were busy – so they asked me to go there from Germany the next day.

What piece of music could work as the soundtrack to your life?

Mozart's Idomeneo. It has a father, a son, a wicked woman, the sea, loss, joy: all elements that fit perfectly with my own life.

Why are there so few female conductors?

Maybe because it's very difficult to combine with a family – you need to be able to travel at short notice. There are far fewer women conductors in Britain than in the rest of Europe: I know at least 20 young female conductors, but not one of them is British.

How does Germany's music scene compare with Britain's?

There's just so much more music. All opera houses and orchestras in ­Germany – where I've worked since 1985 – have state support, and there's a much wider interest in culture: kids everywhere go to see operas like The Magic Flute or Hansel and Gretel when they're six or seven. I was 19 before I saw my first opera.

Which other living artist do you most admire?

[Pianist] Alfred Brendel, for the way he always gets to the core of the ­music. And [conductor] Nikolaus ­Harnoncourt, for changing the way we see the baroque.

What advice would you give a young conductor?

Join an opera house where you can learn the basics: conducting chorus ­rehearsals and backstage bands. A lot of conductors come to opera later in life, after working with symphony ­orchestras, and find it very difficult: with opera, there's just so much more going on.

What work of art would you most like to own?

Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel. It would look nice on my ceiling.

What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Werner Hink, a former concert master at the Vienna Philharmonic, once told me: "Don't think so much, just conduct." I still have that written on a piece of paper, tucked in the front of my Così Fan Tutte score.

In Short

Born: Droitwich Spa, Worcs, 1961.

Career: Has worked with, among others, the State Opera Berlin and the Viennese Volksoper. Conducts Così Fan Tutte at the ROH, London WC2, until 17 February.

High point: "Così Fan Tutte with the Vienna Philharmonic: they have Mozart in their bones."

Low point: "My first Der Rosenkavalier, in Basle. It took me a long time to get into Strauss's world."